5 militants killed at Tangdar sector of LoC: Officials

Srinagar, May 26: Five militants were killed in an encounter at Tangdar sector along the Line of Control (LoC) in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district, officials said on Saturday.

They said that soldiers of 20 JAT posted at Eagle Post in Tangdar on Friday wee hours detected movement of a group of infiltrators who tried to sneak into this part.

After being challenged, the infiltrators and the troopers exchanged a brief gunfight, the officer said. The group, however, managed to sneak into this part and hide in the dense forests.

Soon after the incident, army’s additional reinforcement of 4 PARA commandos rushed to the area and joined the operation.

The joint team of forces intensified the combing operation in the forests and used sniffer dogs to trace out the infiltrated group, and intercepted them late Friday afternoon.

In the meantime, a heavy exchange of gunfight broke out which continued till late Friday evening, they said, adding that the operation was later suspended in wake of darkness and was resumed Saturday morning.

“During searches, the bodies of five militants were recovered along with huge quantity of arms and ammunition including five AK-rifles,” they said.

Army’s Srinagar-based defence spokesperson Col Rajesh Kalia in a statement said that five militants were killed as the soldiers along LoC foiled the infiltration attempt.

Meanwhile, massive search operation continued on second consecutive day Saturday in forest areas of Tangdar sector, Keran sector Gogaldara and Shalabhuto areas.

Official sources said the searches were launched following the apprehensions that about 13 to 17 infiltrators might have sneaked into this side for the last week in Tangdar, Keran, Gogaldara and Shalabhuto areas.

On Thursday, the army claimed to have foiled the infiltration bid at Gogaldara area. (GNS)